A Little Bit of This and That

Day 1 in New York

The flight to New York was surprisingly brief. I think I actually spent more time in the JFK airport trying to find the kiosk for the shuttle, waiting for the shuttle to show up, and then navigating the New York traffic to my hotel.

If you are expecting pictures of Times Square and all the lights and glitter, I actually didn’t see more than a glimpse of the very edge of that. I didn’t do too much of what people typically go to New York for.

I have seen “Sex in the City” and truly wanted to sit somewhere and drink a cosmopolitan. Of course, it wouldn’t have been the same in my jeans and tennis shoes and without gal pals gathered around the table.

I receive the “New York Times” every Sunday, where I see all the fashion ads and things to do in the BIG city. I have read about writers going to New York to talk to their publisher or agent and seen all the creative talent and fashionable people that the Big Apple attracts. It all looks and sounds so exciting and glamorous. But I went to see my son, Lain, who I hadn’t seen for over a year. We could have been in Nowheresville for all I cared. I just wanted to be a Mom with her grown up kid for awhile.

Lain was much more comfortable in Brooklyn and so was I. I wish I’d been able to find a place to stay in Williamsburg. Manhattan was too loud and crowded for me. It was like playing dodge ball, only I was trying to avoid bumping into people and taxis.

The first day, Lain and I stayed near my hotel in Manhattan so I could kind of get my bearings.  I wanted to go to Bryant Park, longing for something green after only a few hours of city. On the way there, I saw my first dog walker. New Yorkers do love their dogs, and they are so well behaved (the dogs, that is).

Lain and I had lunch at Bareburger, a restaurant that has partnered with sustainable farmers. The food was wonderful! Even the beer was organic.

All the food I had in New York was wonderful. So many choices! We had dinner at Lallisse, the fanciest place we ate at in New York, selected because it was right next door to my hotel, and I was running on only four hours of sleep. I was so happy to eat somewhere that served organic, biodynamic and sustainable wines. Restaurants in Minnesota rarely carry such things.

News from the Homeland

Since I arrived home, I’ve been giving my sick chick (I’ll call her Kona) her food and water by hand every couple hours. I couldn’t find a chicken vet, but did speak with an avian vet who said Kona’s symptoms sounded like a vitamin E deficiency. She said if it was a brain injury, it would probably get better on its own without prednisone. So I have been adding vitamin E to the feed I’ve been giving her. I was even doing a bit of physical therapy, helping her to walk forward.

I was shocked yesterday when I went to go feed and Kona was upright, eating out of the feed dish. And she started walking around and got some water too. She’s in the middle of the photo below and as you can see, her head and body position are still not normal.

But it’s better than the photo below where she’s gone into a spasm, run backwards into the edge of the tank and her head is tucked and twisted under her body. It’s horrible to watch, and after two days of only seeing her like that and having her only walk backwards, I was encouraged that she would come up, walk forward, and look somewhat normal for awhile.

It’s getting harder to hand feed Kona because she has started eating so much on her own that she doesn’t want to eat what I try to feed her. But with patience, I’ve been able to get enough feed soaked with 400 IU of vitamin E into her.

This morning she looked worse again, but as the day went on, every time I went in to check on her or change water and add feed, Kona did not have any spasms and she was eating, drinking, and walking forward. So if she can make that much of a recovery in four days, I’m hopeful that she will get better.

Next, I’ll have some photos of Luke to show that I took today and photos from Day 2 in New York. But for now, I need to get to bed in preparation for a chaotic morning as I deal with increased pet care before I have to rush off to work.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to work I once again have to go…